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Wormhole Mission 1
The Botany Bay Station is near a hyper-spatial anomaly, commonly known as a “wormhole,” although unlike a standard wormhole the one near BB cannot be entered, and does not serve as a short cut across vast distances of space. At least not normally. Suddenly, and without warning, late on 25 Dec, station time, the anomaly stabilizes. Sensors show that for a very short period it would be possible to travel through it. An automated shuttle is sent into the wormhole, but is quickly destroyed. Analysis reveals that the space-time within the anomaly is in some ways, similar to slipstream and so requires a sentient, living mind as a pilot. At 18:30 hours on 26 Dec, an expedition is launched with a station pilot and four volunteers. The crew consisted: * Shyaa , the Wraeththu operator of the Sol Catina, chosen by Station Administrator Jubilynn Lane to be in command. * Jake Conner (Jesu Forager), a former spy with extensive military training. * ShadowFox Hyun, a military metamorph capable of being a small fox, or a large, powerful biped. * Kyle Inniatzo, a Lt. Commander of the Home Defense Fleet. * “Ellie” an NPC pilot. The small shuttle enters the anomaly, where spatial distortions mean a very bumpy ride. As sparks fly one of the shuttle’s two nacelles is damaged. The wormhole leads to a dark, Class M world in an isolated system located in extragalactic space. Transmissions from a beacon are picked up and the shuttle descends and lands near it. Pilot Ellie immediately goes to work on repairs. Outside the shuttle is a temple complex, with six obelisks lining an approach to a massive door built into a hill. Each obelisk was identical with the one on Botany Bay (on level 2, in Blue Sector). Jake and Shadowfox explore around the outside of the temple complex, with weapons ready as Kylie notices a woman who approach from the gloom. She says her name is Dia (Dia101 Gartner) and that she is an Imperial pilot who also traveled through the wormhole. She believes the Botany Bay shuttle is a rescue mission. Before more information is learned, however, Dia collapses. She is placed on the shuttle ramp. Jake and Shadowfox discover no obvious sign of danger and all four approach the main temple. Energy readings detect something behind the sealed metal door. Shyaa, in command, declines an offer to use explosives to blow the door open. Shadowfox, in the form of a massive biped, punches the door with his cybernetic arms but this only leads to a dull ringing from the metal. Jake points out that the door could be holding something in, prompting Kylie to step back. Only Shyaa remains close. Shyaa is able to telepathically “hear” something inside the temple, and relays some cryptic messages. The gloom is pierced when a bright holographic image of a being that looks like a human female appears before the door. Shyaa receives several more cryptic telepathic messages, and the group debates on their meaning. A bright light suddenly appears from above the doorway, and a bluish spotlight sweeps the ground. Shyaa tells the others it was a scanning beam and Lt. Comm. Kylie steps into it. The door to the temple opens. Inside is a chamber filled with bright holographic displays of information on DNA, nanotechnology, astrophysical phenomena, fundamental physics, and more; the floor is a pulsing display of energy on a hexagonal grid. The entire temple hums faintly from a powerful energy source. As Jake and Fox remain by the door, their weapons ready, Shyaa and Kylie enter the chamber, walking through the various displays. Kylie passes through the translucent displays, recording them on her datapad and comes to a halt. She calls over Shyaa. A holographic woman (or something that looks more or less like a human female) is perched atop a glowing cube. The image of the woman flickers, and Shyaa says the place is of great age. The entity or AI or computer display, whatever it is, now “speaks,” the same mental transmission, but inside the temple all hear it. Kylie makes an impassioned plea for the holographic woman to aid her people, but from the cryptic response, no help is forthcoming. The radio suddenly crackles as Ellie the NPC pilot asks what happened to Dia. Apparently the Imperial Pilot has vanished. It was never determined whether she left of her own volition or was taken. She was never seen again. Kylie records the images inside the temple as the hologram appeared to make reference to the unusual tree in the center of Botany Bay, but again, the statements remain confusing. Suddenly the holographic image is more clear, implying that others were coming. At the same time, Ellie breaks in again on the radio– there is another ship. It was quickly apparently that this was not a second shuttle from Botany Bay. Shyaa tugs on a reluctant Kylie and the four rapidly depart from the temple and hurry back to the shuttle, sealing the hatch as Ellie prepares for a rapid ascent. Suddenly Ellie asks about the datacube, apparently she had been monitoring the progress of the those in the temple and recognized one object inside the temple. Datacube? Kylie, jumps up, opened the hatch and ran back to the temple as there is a sonic boom from the other craft as it approached to land. Kylie grabs the datacube – which the hologram had been “sitting” on – and crams into her backpack. As she run back the new arrivals open fired on her and the shuttle, but she was able to make it back inside. The rest fire out the open hatch (other than Shyaa), which is closed as the shuttle is taking off. There are casualties. An energy blast had slammed into Shadowfox’s right arm and tore it off. Kylie was hit in the stomach and was losing a great deal of blood. Although not wounded seriously, Jake’s armor absorbed deep blasts. Jake dresses Shadowfox’s wound as Shyaa bends over the dying Kylie. The shuttle reachs the wormhole with the enemy ship in pursuit. One the other side Ellie pulls up hard to avoid crashing into the station. The enemy shuttle is right behind them and begins to open fire. The shuttle rocks from repeated hits, and finally the station’s defense grid opens up on the attacker and it is quickly blown to bits. Ellie struggls to bring the damaged shuttle back into the bay, just as several more enemy ships emergefrom the wormhole. But before the new attackers can fire a massive energy beam from the station disrupts the wormhole and the resulting explosions destroys the attackers. They are gone, but the “wormhole” is no longer stable, and no travel either way is possible. The shuttle lands in the bay with a thud. Kylie, suddenly steps up and staggers outside, where she collapseson the ground, her hand clutching the backpack with the datacube. Jake picks her up and carries to sick bay where she is eventually put into a bacta tank. Also in the medbay, Jake takes Shadowfox’s dismembered arm and seals it to preserve it for reattachment later. Shyaa meanwhile, goes to Command and Control where he finds Jubilynn and they look out at the wormhole, and the growing cloud of debris from the enemy ships. Mission Photos Category:History & Events Category:The Colony